My bosses at WTOP and I have an understanding. I don't have to go to mall parking lots on the day after Thanksgiving, and they get a story that's a little different than the typical Black Friday feature.

So I head to the Washington Humane Society. They are doing their own version of a Black Friday special: reduced adoption fees as a way to spur people to take a critter into their home. They dub it "Hope for the Holidays."

So I go to cover this story, and someone decides she's going to give me more than sound bites to take home. And no, it wasn't the staffers. The pressure came from less than 2 lbs of cuteness.

Go ahead. Call me a sap. I'm a reporter. We deal in facts, and it's true. I am a sap.

But in my defense, there's a family history here. When I was in high school, my father, then a reporter for the NBC affiliate in New York City, did a story on a local shelter. He did his stand-up with an adorable, goofy Shepherd-mix. Within a week, that ungodly big, ungainly mutt had a home in our house. Finn was the best dog our family ever had.

This is not an endorsement. There are many, many fine shelters and rescue organizations in the region, the Washington Animal Rescue League among them. All of these groups, no matter what their philosophies, no matter how different their operations are, share a common goal: to make sure that every animal that comes into their care is placed in a loving, responsible, forever home.

Settled in. And yes, that is an old school iPod in the background. She likes that iconic form. She's got taste.

Saturday, November 26, 2011

Stay tuned...this could be a continuing story. By 5pm at least 5 adoption applications had been filled out at the Georgia Avenue Shelter, and 4 others at New York Avenue. The deal on adoptions runs right up through December 31st.

I was thankful for the caffeination offered by my colleague and anchor Shawn Anderson, who left the Glass Enclosed Nerve Center long enough to do a coffee run. WTOP also provided a lovely turkey dinner. I managed to get a delicious slice of turkey before news broke and I was out the door...Thanks, boss!

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

...I am not old enough to remember the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, but I grew up in a house where that event was in its own way part of personal family history.

My father was an NBC correspondent at the time, and was called in to staff the network's anchor desk with Frank McGee and Chet Huntley. He was part of what in my house was known as "the Kennedy weekend". He didn't talk about it a lot, and I remember asking him to please write his own history of that day, of that weekend; if not for publication, for his kids. He never did.

It's been 14 years since my father died. When I look at this I am stunned; first because I realize once again how one of my brothers sounds eerily like my Dad, and second because the guy on the screen is at once so similar and so different from the man who raised me.

Oh, and there's a bike-y aspect to the Inter County Connector: there is a bike trail along the ICC and this cyclist stopped for me (I was on deadline with minutes to go before air, and didn't get his name) and let me take this pic.

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Montgomery County Police Officer Mary Davis on the latest additions to the force: 2 weapons-detectors who happen to have four legs and a tail. Lila and Cali graduated 8 weeks of training and demonstrate their skills.

That's Officer Dominc Raysick pictured with Lila, a former shelter dog who literally jumps with joy at the prospect of going to work.

Montgomery County Maryland Police Department's newest recruits: K-9s Cali and Lila report for duty. They have been trained to detect and help recover weapons. Most bosses dream of employees with the kind of work ethic these dogs have. Interesting to note: Lila was a shelter dog.